My sister has just broken down on the M25 and she isn\'t a member of any breakdown organisation.
What can she do?
Does she leave the car and get someone to pick her up or should she let the police know and how does she get her car recovered?
Any replies would be greatly appreciated.
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I suggest she uses her mobile (free of charge) to dial 999.
Explain to the Police that she is on her own, broken-down on M25.
They will tell her what to do.
Tell her that I have said a prayer for her.
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Also she can call out the AA/RAC etc. who will sort her out, but she\'ll have to pay a whacking fee for the service. Still, if it gets her off the UK\'s biggest car-park safely there\'s no compromise.
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She rang the AA and joined for about 100quid. The recovery truck would have charged 250quid just to get her off the motorway and to the nearest garage.
Seemed much better value to just join the AA and if they can\'t fix it they will take her and the car home.
Just goes to show how knackered we all can be when cars do break down.
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I understood the police preferred a call from the roadside box than a mobile as it enables them to pinpoint your position accurately, and also in the event of a "proper incident" they wouldn't get flooded with duplicate calls from mobiles. I may be wrong.
Can I bash on about SmartNav again? It's another of its functions - press the button, tell the call centre you've broken down and they do the rest. I still have no relation to them...
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I believe that the roadside telephones are now bieng phased out as cutbacks take effect. How this will affect people we will have to wait and see.
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My understanding is that if you leave your car on the motorway, it will be regarded as abandoned and a danger to other motorists. The police will have it removed and you will be charged a fortune to get it back.
You could have driven to her and towed her home yourself. By far the cheapest method, unless you live 00's of miles away.
The police do prefer people to use the roadside phones where possible, but if a woman on her own phones from the car they will attempt to get the nearest patrol to 'drop by' to make sure she is ok.
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>>> You could have driven to her and towed her home yourself <<<
Err, not on the motorway you can't.
I'm sure it is a classified as an offence.
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Not unless the law has been changed in recent years. During my rallying days towing 'injured' rally cars home was a common occurance, never been stopped doing so. On the contrary, the police were very helpfull on several occasions.
I'm sure someone in the know will put us straight soon. Calling PugUgly.....
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Specifically towing on a motorway is an offence, but it's ok elsewhere
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What offence?? I don't recall one and a quick look in the highway code doesn't mention anything and a quick web search shows
(Not a definative source of course)
www.traffic-answers.com/motorway.htm
Q. Can I be towed off by a friend or relative?
A. If your vehicle is capable of being towed safely then you can arrange for a friend or relative to come and tow you with a normal towrope. There is no law against towing on the motorway as long as it is done safely and within the 60 mph speed limit for cars and trailers.
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You definately cannot tow a car on a motorway unless you are using one of the fixed bar types or a trailer.
I know this as the garage we use at work have just informed me.
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The classes of vehicle which can use motorways at anytime are those falling under Class I and ClassII in Scehdule 4 to The Highways Act 198. These include
Class I
Motor cars, etc.
Trailers drawn by the above.
A broken down motor car can be both a trailer and a motor vehicle.
There is nothing under this Act or Motorways Traffic (England & Wales) Regs 1982 stipulating how the tow should be affected i.e. rigid bar or rope, but in the case of the later MV Con & Use Regs imposes length of rope and marker needed.
DVD
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Thanks DVD.
Do I remember correctly - red flag and max 15 feet of rope?
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Reg 86(1) MV Con & Use Regs 1986
Tow rope or chain not to exceed 4.5 metres (EEC now Cyd)
N/e 1.5 metres unless rope or chain made clearly visible to other road users and from either side.
DVD
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This may well be the companys policy, (particularly in respect of H+S regs) but it is not a specific legal requirement. See DVDs reply.
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I remember enquiring at a police station (albeit many years ago) whether it was legal to recover a vehicle by towing on the motorway. ( We wished to get a car back from Brum to London, but did not tell them that). Nobody there could agree, they put it on the radio to traffic cars, and the only answer was that somebody thought it was permissible, but only "as far as the next exit". Every else thought it ok provided everything else was in order. I did not bother to point out that you would always be going to the next exit if/when stopped for the first time!
I dont think I would do it today tho.....
The only time I have been stopped by the law for towing was at 02.00 when we were being towed back in a Standard Ensign to Chelmsford from Bishops Stortford by a a motor scooter. When we came to any incline, the passengers all got out to push. The police were sympathetic in those days. I suspect that we would probably all have failed a breath test, but we were at least capable of standing. Which was a good rule of thumb in the 60s.
pmh (was peter)
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Legal or Illegal, isn\'t towing on the m.way a rather foolhardy thing to do either way?
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And I've learned something I hope I never have to use! ;-)
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All,
The above seems to have missed the point.
The police are most unhappy about members of the public out of their cars on Motorways, even if they are fixing a towrope on their sister's car.
See the thread about '3 killed on M25' tragedy.
JohnR
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